NBA Rumors: Kyrie Irving Urges Celtics To Sign ’15-Year Vet’ Amid Nearing Carmelo Anthony-Rockets Breakup

Kyrie Irving and the Boston Celtics headed into the 2018-19 NBA season as the No. 1 favorite team to fully dominate the LeBron James-less Eastern Conference. However, earlier this season, the Celtics don’t look the team who is expected to challenge the reigning NBA champions, Golden State Warriors, in the NBA Finals 2019. The Celtics are currently sitting in the No. 6 spot in the Eastern Conference and have lost four of their last five games.

In their recent loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, Kyrie Irving believes that the Celtics should consider making an upgrade on their roster. According to Tom Westerholm of MassLive, Irving said that “it would be nice” if the Celtics will be adding players who have at least 14 years of experience in the league.

“I think it just comes with, just some experience. Looking at this locker room, me being in my eighth year and being a ‘veteran’ as well as Al [Horford] and [Aron] Baynes. Right now, I think it would be nice if we had someone that was a 15-year vet, a 14-year vet that could kind of help us race along the regular season and understand it’s a long marathon rather than just a full-on sprint, when you want to play, when you want to do what you want to do. It’s all about attitude and effort. That’s all it is.”

Kyrie Irving: "I think it would be nice if we had someone that was a 15-year vet, a 14-year vet that could kind of help us race along the regular season and understand it's a long marathon rather than just a full-on sprint.”

More: https://t.co/YP6YQZOv3C pic.twitter.com/YvWril4RaL

— Tom Westerholm (@Tom_NBA) November 12, 2018

Kyrie Irving’s statement came in a perfect time when a veteran leader who has a 15-year NBA experience will soon become available on the free agency market — Carmelo Anthony of the Houston Rockets. Like the Celtics, the Rockets are also struggling earlier in the 2018-19 NBA season. However, their situation is worse than the Celtics, and Anthony is taking most of the blame for their rough start.

Carmelo Anthony has already missed the Rockets’ last two games due to “illness,” and some players and coaches believe that the 10-time NBA All-Star has already played his last game with the team. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported that Anthony’s representatives are starting to gather information from various NBA front offices about potential landing spots for the veteran forward.

Signing with the Celtics is a win-win situation for Carmelo Anthony and Boston. By joining the Celtics, Anthony will still have the opportunity to play for a team who has a strong chance of contending for the NBA championship title this season. The arrival of Anthony will not only give the Celtics a veteran leader, but he could also provide Boston’s much-needed scoring off the bench.

As of now, it remains unknown if the Celtics have a real interest in signing Carmelo Anthony once he becomes a free agent. They currently have 15 players with guaranteed contracts on their roster and will need to waive one of them to create a spot for Anthony.